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EspañolNEW WORLD INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION ORDER
The 'New World Information and Communication Order' (NWICO or NWIO) is a term that was coined in a debate over media representations of the developing world in UNESCO in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The term was widely used by the MacBride Commission, a UNESCO panel chaired by Nobel Prize winner Seán MacBride, which was charged with creation of a set of recommendations to make global media representation more equitable. The MacBride Commission produced a report titled "Many Voices, One World", which outlined the main philosophical points of the New World Information Communication Order.
The fundamental issues of imbalances in global communication had been discussed for some time. The American media scholar Wilbur Schramm noted in 1964 that the flow of news among nations is thin, that much attention is given to developed countries and little to less-developed ones, that important events are ignored and reality is distorted. (Mass Media and National Development, Stanford University Press, 1964, p. 65). From a more radical perspective, Herbert Schiller observed in 1969 that developing countries had little meaningful input into decisions about radio frequency allocations for satellites at a key meeting in Geneva in 1963. (Mass Communications and American Empire, Beacon Press, 1969, p. 140). Schiller pointed out that many satellites had military applications. Intelsat which was set up for international co-operation in satellite communication, was also dominated by the United States. In the 1970s these and other issues were taken up by the Non-Aligned Movement and debated within the United Nations and UNESCO.
A wide range of issues were raised as part of NWICO discussions. These include:
★ News reporting on the developing world that reflects the priorities of news agencies in London, Paris and New York. Reporting of natural disasters and military coups rather than the fundamental realities.
★ An unbalanced flow of media from the developed world (especially the United States) to the underdeveloped countries. Everyone watches American movies and television.
★ An unfair division of the radio spectrum. Most of it was allocated to the developed world and much of this was for military use.
★ Satellite broadcasting of television signals into Third World countries without prior permission was widely perceived as a threat to national sovereignty.
★ Use of satellites to collect information on crops and natural resources in the Third World at a time when most developing countries lacked the capacity to analyse this data.
★ At the time most mainframe computers were located in the United States and there were concerns about the location of databases (such as airline reservations) and the difficulty of developing countries catching up with the US lead in computers.
★ The protection of journalists from violence was raised as an issue for discussion. For example, journalists were targeted by various military dictatorships in Latin America in the 1970s.
The United States was hostile to NWICO. It saw these issues simply as barriers to the free flow of communication and to the interests of American media corporations. It attacked UNESCO as an organization and eventually withdrew its membership at the end of 1985. The matter was complicated by debates within UNESCO about Israel's archeological work in the city of Jerusalem, and about the Apartheid regime in South Africa. The Reagan administration was also hostile to other United Nations organizations such as the International Labor Organization. (The US rejoined UNESCO in 2003.) Since the issues raised by NWICO were complex, a media campaign was launched saying that NWICO was about licensing journalists and restructing press freedoms.
★ "Hope and Folly: the United States and UNESCO, 1945-1985", William Preston, Edward S. Herman, and Herbert Schiller, Univ of Minnesota Press, 1989. ISBN 0-8166-1788-0
★ UNESCO
★ MacBride report
★ Development Communication
| Contents |
| History |
| Issues |
| Response of the United States |
| Reference |
| See also |
History
The fundamental issues of imbalances in global communication had been discussed for some time. The American media scholar Wilbur Schramm noted in 1964 that the flow of news among nations is thin, that much attention is given to developed countries and little to less-developed ones, that important events are ignored and reality is distorted. (Mass Media and National Development, Stanford University Press, 1964, p. 65). From a more radical perspective, Herbert Schiller observed in 1969 that developing countries had little meaningful input into decisions about radio frequency allocations for satellites at a key meeting in Geneva in 1963. (Mass Communications and American Empire, Beacon Press, 1969, p. 140). Schiller pointed out that many satellites had military applications. Intelsat which was set up for international co-operation in satellite communication, was also dominated by the United States. In the 1970s these and other issues were taken up by the Non-Aligned Movement and debated within the United Nations and UNESCO.
Issues
A wide range of issues were raised as part of NWICO discussions. These include:
★ News reporting on the developing world that reflects the priorities of news agencies in London, Paris and New York. Reporting of natural disasters and military coups rather than the fundamental realities.
★ An unbalanced flow of media from the developed world (especially the United States) to the underdeveloped countries. Everyone watches American movies and television.
★ An unfair division of the radio spectrum. Most of it was allocated to the developed world and much of this was for military use.
★ Satellite broadcasting of television signals into Third World countries without prior permission was widely perceived as a threat to national sovereignty.
★ Use of satellites to collect information on crops and natural resources in the Third World at a time when most developing countries lacked the capacity to analyse this data.
★ At the time most mainframe computers were located in the United States and there were concerns about the location of databases (such as airline reservations) and the difficulty of developing countries catching up with the US lead in computers.
★ The protection of journalists from violence was raised as an issue for discussion. For example, journalists were targeted by various military dictatorships in Latin America in the 1970s.
Response of the United States
The United States was hostile to NWICO. It saw these issues simply as barriers to the free flow of communication and to the interests of American media corporations. It attacked UNESCO as an organization and eventually withdrew its membership at the end of 1985. The matter was complicated by debates within UNESCO about Israel's archeological work in the city of Jerusalem, and about the Apartheid regime in South Africa. The Reagan administration was also hostile to other United Nations organizations such as the International Labor Organization. (The US rejoined UNESCO in 2003.) Since the issues raised by NWICO were complex, a media campaign was launched saying that NWICO was about licensing journalists and restructing press freedoms.
Reference
★ "Hope and Folly: the United States and UNESCO, 1945-1985", William Preston, Edward S. Herman, and Herbert Schiller, Univ of Minnesota Press, 1989. ISBN 0-8166-1788-0
See also
★ UNESCO
★ MacBride report
★ Development Communication
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